Featuring: Adam Becker, Frank Close, J.R. Dawson, Rupert Everett, Nick Fuller Googins, Matthew Gasda, David Guymer, Maris Kreizman, Jonathan Lethem, Sean McMeekin, Annalee Newitz, Neon Yang

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Adam Becker, MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER (Basic Books)

Why Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions — with escaping death, building AI tyrants, and creating limitless growth — are about oligarchic power, not preparing for the future

Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us. According to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and more, the only good future for humanity is one powered by technology: trillions of humans living in space, functionally immortal, served by superintelligent AIs.

In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow — and shows why, in reality, there is no good evidence that they will, or should, come to pass. Nevertheless, these obsessions fuel fears that overwhelm reason — for example, that a rogue AI will exterminate humanity — at the expense of essential work on solving crucial problems like climate change. What’s more, these futuristic visions cloak a hunger for power under dreams of space colonies and digital immortality. The giants of Silicon Valley claim that their ideas are based on science, but the reality is darker: they come from a jumbled mix of shallow futurism and racist pseudoscience.

More Everything Forever exposes the powerful and sinister ideas that dominate Silicon Valley, challenging us to see how foolish, and dangerous, these visions of the future are.

Another new book that takes a look at Silicon Valley, its obsessions, and how its denizens foist these obsessions into our lives… Happy reading. Looking forward to reading this hopefully very soon. More Everything Forever is due to be published by Basic Books in North America, on April 22nd.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Frank Close, DESTROYER OF WORLDS (Basic Books)

The thrilling and terrifying seventy-year story of the physics that deciphered the atom and created the hydrogen bomb

Although Henri Becquerel didn’t know it at the time, he changed history in 1895 when he left photographic plates and some uranium rocks in a drawer. The rocks emitted something that exposed the plates: it was the first documented evidence of spontaneous radioactivity. So began one of the most exciting and consequential efforts humans have ever undertaken.

As Frank Close recounts in Destroyer of Worlds, scientists confronting Becquerel’s discovery had three questions: What was this phenomenon? Could it be a source of unlimited power? And (alas), could it be a weapon? Answering them was an epic journey of discovery, with Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, Irene Joliot-Curie, and many others jockeying to decipher the dance of particles in a decaying atom. And it was a terrifying journey as well, as Edward Teller and others pressed on from creating atom bombs to hydrogen bombs so powerful that they could destroy all life on earth.

The deep history of the nuclear age has never before been recounted so vividly. Centered on an extraordinary cast of characters, Destroyer of Worlds charts the course of nuclear physics from simple curiosity to potential Armageddon.

This caught my attention for professional reasons (history, not weapons manufacturing!), and I hope to read this over the summer. Destroyer of Worlds is due to be published by Basic Books in North America and Allen Lane in the UK, on June 10th.

Follow the Author: Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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J.R. Dawson, THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (Tor Books)

At the edge of Chicago, nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, there is a waystation for the dead. Every night, the newly-departed travel through the city to the Station, guided by its lighthouse. There, they reckon with their lives, before stepping aboard a boat to go beyond.

Nera has spent decades watching her father — the ferryman of the dead — sail across the lake, each night just like the last.

But tonight, something is wrong.

The Station’s lighthouse has started to flicker out. The terrifying, ghostly Haunts have multiplied in the city. And now a person — a livingperson — has found her way onto the boat.

Her name is Charlie. She followed a song. And she is searching for someone she lost.

I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about this, the second novel from the author of The First Bright Thing. Sounds really interesting, hope to get to it soon-ish. The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World is due to be published by Tor Books in North America (July 29th) and in the UK (July 31st).

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Rupert Everett, THE AMERICAN NO (Atria)

Eight masterful stories of love and loss, drama and glamour, and hope and rejection…

In his first, glorious collection of stories, Rupert Everett takes us on exhilarating journeys with a cast of extraordinary characters. From Oscar Wilde’s last night in Paris to the ferociously unforgiving world of a Los Angeles talent agency and beyond, these stories are evocative, moving, and tender. Brilliantly witty, elegiac, and drawing from the wealth of film and TV ideas Everett has worked on over the course of his illustrious career, The American No will delight and surprise his many fans.

I’m a long-time fan of Rupert Everett’s on-screen work, so when I learned that he had a book of stories coming out, I was intrigued. Very much looking forward to reading this. The American No is out now, published by Atria Books in North America and Abacus in the UK.

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Nick Fuller Googins, THE FREQUENCY OF LIVING THINGS (Atria)

Josie may be the youngest sister, but she takes care of everyone. She is the left-brained scientist to her twin sisters’ right-brained artistic chaos. She makes sure their rent gets paid on time, they make their therapy appointments, and has also been their de-facto band manager since she was a teenager. When Ara, her middle sister (by a few minutes), calls from jail, it isn’t exactly a surprise, and Josie knows exactly how to snap into action.

Emma is the quintessential frontwoman, complete with looks and attitude. But the success of The Twins’ first (and only) album — gold records, Grammy nominations, and diehard fans — is two decades behind her. Hiding under the surface of her swagger is a long-held guilt that has turned her into her sister’s enabler. Emma knows she needs Ara’s creative genius and thinks a jailhouse record could be just the thing to get Ara her freedom and their band back on the main stage.

Ara is detoxing, not only from her opioid habit but also from her family. The truth is, as crazy as it sounds, she’s not in a hurry to get out of lock-up. In the most unlikely and dangerous of places, this could be her chance to face the demons of her past and disentangle herself from her family.

Bertie, who raised her three daughters as a single mother, has always taught them that family won’t always be around to take care of you. A former defense attorney and perennial do-gooder, she’s committed to taking care of everyone less fortunate even if that means putting her girls’ needs second. But now Bertie must decide if she should reenter her daughters’ lives in their greatest time of need — or watch to see if the resilience she’s taught them will help carry them through.

A story both intimate and sweeping, The Frequency of Living Things explores the timeless question of how our individual destinies are intertwined with our family, our siblings, and our history no matter how we try to untangle ourselves from them.

I received a review copy of this author’s debut novel, The Great Transition, but due to various busy-life-reasons, I ended up not having enough time to read it yet. Fuller Googins’s next novel actually sounds even more interesting, to me, so I’ll probably read this before I get caught up with his debut. The Frequency of Living Things is due to be published by Atria Books in North America and in the UK, on August 12th.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Matthew Gasda, THE SLEEPERS (Arcade)

A Contemporary Tragedy in a Classic Style.

Four New Yorkers’ paths collide in the days ahead of the 2016 election. Dan teaches Marxism while secretly courting a student. His girlfriend Mariko, an actress, finds refuge in her dying mentor’s bed. When her sister, Akari, arrives from LA — in flight from her own dead-end romance — she becomes the unwitting witness to their mutual destruction…

Maps the territory between who we pretend to be and who we are—and how far we are willing to go when we think the internet isn’t looking. The Sleepers, a ruthless portrait of educated Millennials who know better but act worse, throws a jagged, electric light on how desire upends our carefully curated social personas.

A new novel by a playwright. I hadn’t heard of Gasda’s work before I saw this book available for review. Sounds interesting, and hoping to read it soon. The Sleepers is due to be published by Arcade in North America and in the UK, on May 6th.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads
Review copy received via NetGalley

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David Guymer, VERMINSLAYER (Black Library)

Greywater Fastness – an industrial canker in the heart of Ghyran. Foundries and metalworks pump soot and fire endlessly into the skies of the Realm of Life. Dusty streets hide peril at every turn, and attacks by the Dreadwood Sylvaneth hamper the city’s relentless encroachment.

Gotrek Gurnisson barges into Greywater Fastness seeking answers as to why his Fyreslayer rune is mysteriously waning. But finding them in the stronghold’s clogged and blackened arteries may prove far more difficult than first thought, and with skaven warlocks building something deep underground – something that will cement their place in skavendom forever – Gotrek begins to wonder if he might instead find that which has eluded him these past ages – his doom.

I’ve been a long-time fan of both Gotrek and David Guymer’s fiction, so it was very nice that he was returning to the character in the Age of Sigmar. I read this very soon after I received it from the publisher, and I rather enjoyed it. I’ll post a full review hopefully soon. Verminslayer is out now, published by Black Library in North America and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Goodreads, BlueSky
Review copy received from publisher

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Maris Kreizman, I WANT TO BURN THIS PLACE DOWN (Ecco)

At the heart of this funny, acerbic, and bravely honest book of essays is Maris Kreizman, a former rule follower and ambition monster who once believed the following truths to be self-evident: that working very hard would lead to admission to a good college, which would lead to a good job at a good company, which would then lead to personal fulfillment and a sense of purpose, along with adequate health care and eventual home ownership and plenty of money waiting in a retirement account. Like any good Democrat and feminist, she believed that if she just worked hard and played by the rules, she was guaranteed a safe and comfortable life.

Now in her forties, the only thing Maris Kreizman knows for sure is that she no longer has faith in American institutions or any of their hollow promises. Now she knows that the rules are meant to serve some folks better than others; and, actually, they serve no one all that well — not even Kreizman. Disturbed by the depth and scope of the liberal myths in which she once so fervently believed, Kreizman takes readers on an intimate journey that revisits some of her most profound revelations, demonstrating that it’s never too late to become radicalized.

With Kreizman’s signature wit and blunt self-reflection, and more than a little transformative rage, I Want to Burn This Place Down is a book for anyone who wishes they could go back in time to give their younger selves the real truth about the fractured country they have inherited — and the encouragement to rebuild something better in its place.

I’ve already read this collection of essays. It was pretty good, with some chapters being better than others. I started to lose steam with it, around the 3/4 mark, though. Worth checking out, though, if the synopsis appeals. I Want to Burn This Place Down is due to be published by Ecco in North America and in the UK, on July 1st.

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Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Jonathan Lethem, A DIFFERENT KIND OF TENSION (Ecco)

A definitive collection of new and selected stories by a master of the form.

This dazzling, genre-defying collection from Jonathan Lethem features seven major stories published since his last collection, along with his best work spanning more than three decades. A major new story, “The Red Sun School of Thoughts,” never published elsewhere, follows a teenaged boy coming to terms with figures of authority and power — those both in his own biological family and in the family he creates for himself.

Elsewhere we meet “Super Goat Man,” a down-at-heels bohemian superhero; “The Porn Critic,” whose accidental expertise wrecks his own romantic aspirations; and “Sleepy People,” who pose interpersonal conundrums without ever rousing from their slumber. Fluidly moving between realism and the surreal, the absurd and the mundane, A Different Kind of Tension is a container bursting with life and death, couples in trouble, talking animals, technologies on the fritz. Through it all are people longing to be seen and to connect; to thrive, love, and be forgiven.

I still haven’t read as much of Lethem’s fiction as I would like. I guess it’s partly because I was relatively late to his books? This looks like it’ll be a great collection of stories (which could serve as a very good introduction to the author’s work, too). Looking forward to reading it as soon as I can. A Different Kind of Tension is due to be published by Ecco in North America, on September 23rd. (No UK edition that I could find, at the time of writing.)

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Sean McMeekin, TO OVERTHROW THE WORLD (Basic Books)

When the USSR collapsed in 1991, the world was certain that Communism was dead. Today, three decades later, it is clear that it was not. While Russia may no longer be Communist, Communism and sympathy for Communist ideas have proliferated across the globe.

In To Overthrow the World, Sean McMeekin investigates the evolution of Communism from a seductive ideal of a classless society into the ruling doctrine of tyrannical regimes. Tracing Communism’s ascent from theory to practice, McMeekin ranges from Karl Marx’s writings to the rise and fall of the USSR under Stalin to Mao’s rise to power in China to the acceleration of Communist or Communist-inspired policies around the world in the twenty-first century. McMeekin argues, however, that despite the endurance of Communism, it remains deeply unpopular as a political form. Where it has arisen, it has always arisen by force.

I’ve picked up almost all of McMeekin’s books this year, and enjoyed Stalin’s War, so I decided to pick this one up as well (it’s helpful for work, which is an added bonus). I’ll be reading this over the summer. To Overthrow the World is out now, published by Basic Books in North America and Hurst Publishers in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads

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Annalee Newitz, AUTOMATIC NOODLE (TorDotCom)

A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop…

You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.

But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.

I’ve already managed to read this (I really am quite behind on these New Books posts…), and very much enjoyed it. I’ll post a full review soon. I think fans of the author’s will love it, and anyone who enjoys a cozier SF story will find much to like as well. Automatic Noodle is due to be published by TorDotCom in North America and in the UK, on August 5th.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Neon Yang, BRIGHTER THAN SCALE, SWIFTER THAN FLAME (TorDotCom)

Few know the true identity of the masked guildknight of Mithrandon.

She barely remembers herself.

The masked guildknight — Yeva — was thirteen when she killed her first dragon. With her gift revealed, she was shipped away to the imperial capital to train in the rare art of dragon-slaying. Now a legendary dragon hunter, she has never truly felt at home — nor removed her armor in public — since that fateful day all those years ago.

Yeva must now go to Quanbao, a fiercely independent and reclusive kingdom. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper, but instead loved and worshipped. It is rumored that there, they harbor a dragon behind their borders.

While Yeva searches for the dreaded beast, she is welcomed into the palace by Quanbao’s monarch, Lady Sookhee. Though wary of each other, Yeva is shocked to find herself slowly opening up to the beautiful, mysterious queen.

As they grow closer, Yeva longs to let Lady Sookhee see the person behind the armor, but she knows she must fulfill her purpose and slay the dragon. Ultimately, she must decide who — or what — she is willing to betray: her own heart, or the sacred duty that she has called home for so long.

Another one I’ve already read, and enjoyed. I’ll post a proper review soon, but in the interim: this is a very good, lushy-created world, with great protagonist and supporting cast. It moved just a little slow to begin with, but that was OK. For readers who are already fans of the author, this will be a must-read, but it could also serve as a very good intro to Yang’s work. Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Air is due to be published by TorDotCom in North America and in the UK, on May 6th.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley